Former Hawks Star Guard Teague Makes Bold Klay Thompson Claim After Heat Move

Miami Heat newcomer Klay Thompson is getting ready to play for his third NBA team after stops with the Golden State Warriors (11 seasons) and Dallas Mavericks (two seasons).

While the sharpshooter is certainly hoping to compete for championships with the new-look Heat, it’s likely that he will always be remembered best for his Warriors tenure, which turned him into a four-time NBA champion and future Hall of Famer.

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Thompson spent over a decade with Golden State before leaving in the 2024 offseason. While the sharpshooter never averaged more than 22.3 points per game during his Warriors tenure, former Atlanta Hawks star Jeff Teague believes that Thompson would’ve averaged 25+ points per game with Atlanta had he landed with the Hawks when Teague was there. 

“He definitely could’ve been a No. 1 option (earlier in his career),” Teague said of Thompson. “We had this debate maybe the other day. We were talking about if he would’ve got traded to the Hawks when I was there, he would’ve averaged 25, 26.”

Teague was drafted by the Hawks in 2009 and stuck around with them through the 2015-16 season. Thompson, meanwhile, came into the league in 2011.

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Thompson was immediately impactful in the NBA but really started to reach another level in the 2014-15 season, when he was named an All-Star, All-NBA selectee and finished 10th in the MVP race. That was also his first season averaging 20+ points per contest (21.7). To sweeten the deal, he won his first NBA title that season with the Warriors.

That started a run of five straight All-Star seasons for Thompson in which he averaged 20+ points per game in all of them. By the end of that run, he was a five-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selectee and three-time NBA champ. Devastating injuries then impacted his career, but he bounced back in the 2021-22 season to help the Warriors win another ring, making him a four-time champion. 

Had Thompson been hypothetically traded to the Hawks just ahead of his first All-Star…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/former-hawks-star-guard-teague-052750567.html

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Publish date : 2026-08-29 05:27:00

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